


The Mermaid Deal

by orphan_account



Series: The Mermaid Deal [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Gen, mermaid - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-08
Updated: 2013-04-08
Packaged: 2017-11-28 14:39:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/675525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once Upon a Time a curious mermaid makes a deal with the Dark One to save her kingdom of Atlantis. But as she learns to live on land, she also learns to love Rumplestilskin, even though her heart is still in the ocean.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Traveling

**Author's Note:**

> Credit for this idea goes to midstorm on tumblr, who is amazing and let me write for her AU.  
> Please enjoy!

Belle knew that what she was doing was against all the rules that her land and people had. As she swam to the surface and her hair arose out of the water for only the second time in her life, a large part of her mind screamed that she should get back down and go home to their underwater palace. Sure, it wasn’t great there right now, but it certainly wasn’t as bad enough for her to go against all the rules that her country and people came up with. 

Yet Belle knew the real truth, that life down there wasn’t as it appeared, that they were suffering enough from the wars with the other sea creatures and the people were suffering. She had snuck out herself and gone down to the hospitals and watched as people came in suffering from war wounds, diseases, and famine. It was too much for her to deal with, she had come up with a plan instead that would help everyone. 

Long ago in stories that were much older than herself, and even her family, there was the story of a man, who was more described as a beast. Still though, this beast could grant any wish, do anything with magic, as long as you could offer him something that he wanted. Belle had read that in some cases there were even stories of him taking the first born child. 

She put a hand on her belly when that thought entered her mind, Belle had always desired kin, but if that was what it took then that was what it took. She would not hesitate to give anything for her people. The old tomes had depicted this beast with a thirst for blood who sometimes took without even giving back, and she hoped that this time he would be more in a giving mood than a taking one. 

The stars were bright that night, on an ocean where no ships sailed. Belle looked out cautiously for any boats, but she saw none. She knew well how to dodge boats, but the sailors on them were anything but kind, and they always seemed to have some weird fascination for mermaids like her. The only boat that did worry her was a red boat with white sail, but she hadn’t seen that boat in years, and she doubted that she would see it again. 

Shaking her head, Belle dipped down in again into the water as she took off, looking for the certain rocks that when she would be daring and come out like this in the middle of the night, she would go and rest and read under. Tonight, those rocks would be the place where Belle asked for him.

In all her books, it said that she would have to just say his name three times, and then hopefully he would appear. His name was long and complicated, but she had no worries about being able to pronounce it. Rumpelstiltskin was his name, though her thoughts were lazy, and in her mind Belle had taken to calling him Rum. She hoped that in his presence it wouldn’t slip and make him mad. 

The rocks appear in the distance, and Belle smiled. Despite how long it had been since she had traveled to the surface world, how long she was away, those were always going to be her rocks, and that was always going to be her spot to read and visit. Not even her beloved father had visited there, and why would he? He was the one who put the ban on going to the surface, placing it there many years ago when Belle was still little. 

She hauled herself up on the rocks, climbing up and shaking off droplets of water as she moved and got to the tallest rock, her favorite place. It was the most visible spot to see during the day, but at night her rocks were almost invisible, unseen to the sailors that had a knack for crashing into them. Belle smiled slightly as she finally made it to the top and pulled out of her bag, her books, her few precious items, and a shiny rock that she had found on the bottom of the sea floor as she was on her way here. It had been too pretty for her to pass up. She had hoped to make a necklace or earrings out of it. 

Her book, which one of the surface dwellers would think would be destroyed by the water, was perfectly intact. The water didn’t have an effect on the pages at all, instead the water simply rolled off the pages and cover as if it was covered in something to protect it. When Belle had asked her father all those years ago why the books were like that, when the surface dwellers couldn’t bring books, he had said that long ago a magician had come and placed a spell on the books so that they wouldn’t get ruined by the water. Whoever that magician was, Belle was thankful for him. 

Belle took a couple moments to relax, to stare at the stars and play with her stone and read a couple of her favorite pages from the book. Her favorite story was one where Rumpelstiltskin would turn straw into gold for a poor girl in return for her jewelry, and finally for her first born child. It was her favorite story because it was the only one that put Rumpelstiltskin in a somewhat good light. To Belle, it was the only story where the other person had what was coming to her. Belle thought that the woman in the story was too cocky, and almost demanded Rumpelstiltskin to do those things for her, instead of asking like what Belle was going to do. 

When her story was all read and done, Belle still didn’t call out his name. Instead she started a game, she took her stone that she had found and threw it back into the water. Then she would dive down, and try to catch it before it hit the bottom. Belle did this for a while until during one throw she lost sight of her stone and almost lost in the dark, and had an internal panic attack at losing her stone. 

Finally when she calmed down from her panic attack and couldn’t think of anything else to do, she flipped her book open to the page where it first spoke of Rumpelstiltskin. With one final deep breathe she called out three times, the name of a beast who could either save her life or leave her to her own problems. 

“Rumpelstiltskin.”


	2. It's a Deal

There was silence. Not that Belle had expected anything else really, you had to say the name three times before he appeared, and she had only worked up the courage to say his name one time so far. Belle breathed in deep, enjoying the taste of salt on her tongue that was almost as normal to her as swimming was. The salt from the water had always been there in the sea, in the air, and mixing in with the food she ate. Belle had never grown tired of it, always enjoying the comfort that it brought her with memories of home. 

“Rumpelstiltskin.” 

There it was again, the same name. She simply had to say his name one more time, and he would hopefully be there to talk to her and make a deal. As her mouth moved to say his name the last and final time, the words caught in her throat, making her choke just a bit. Who knew what kind of deal she would have to make, or what she would have to give up for the sake of her kingdom. Belle took one deep breath, and then uttered the name that had caused her so much stress over the past few says she thought her hair would fall out. 

“Rumpelstiltskin.” 

Nothing happened. Belle didn’t know what she expected to happen, maybe a bright light and some extravagant entrance. Yet there was nothing, it even sounded as if the sea had stopped its crashing for a moment, and it gently lapped at the rocks she was sitting on instead of clashing with them as it had been moments before. Belle breathed in disappointment, letting it all out in a sigh of air that she didn’t know she was holding in her lungs. The stories had said he was a picky man about who he made deals with, but she really let herself believe that he would appear to help her. 

“I knew that he wouldn’t show up to help a mermaid like me,” Belle lamented, slumping her back against the rock. Later she would be thankful that the rock had a flat back unlike the others, if not she would possess a rather large bruise on her back. 

“I wouldn’t say that dearie,” a very scraggly, but otherwise very male voice said behind her. Belle whipped around as if her father had been the one to catch her outside, and not the man who she had been hoping would come. 

Belle took the few precious moments she occupied to study the being who would either help her or send her back home with nothing. He was wearing a thick material, the likes of which she had never seen before, and his skin was green and almost looked scaly. It reminded her of the fish she would swim with, but at the same time his skin looked as if it was an element of its own, like it wouldn’t be seen on anything other than him. He stared right back at her, unabashed to meet her gaze and the fact that she was all about ogling him. 

“Well are you going to tell me why you all but summoned me here? I don’t just visit anyone without reason,” he said, ending with a high pitched giggle. Belle flushed, lowering her gaze her to lap where her stone still laid in her palm. 

“I didn’t mean to summon you, the book said that if I wanted an audience with you, I needed to say your name three times,” Belle responded a slight blush gardening her cheeks. Rumpelstiltskin frowned at her comment, suddenly looking a bit suspicious. 

“What book?” he asked of her. Belle stared for a moment before she reached over into her bag and fetched out the book out of her satchel, handing it to him. In that moment Belle noticed that his fingernails were black and sharpened to a point. 

Rumpelstiltskin looked through the book, flipping through the pages as if he had already read the story, and with a sudden realization Belle thought indeed he had probably not only read about his adventures but he had been the one to live through them. Belle watched him carefully as he flipped through the book, hoping that he wouldn’t abruptly get it in his mind that her poor book deserved a fiery death. Yet just as he had taken it from her, he handed it back, a look of amusement twisting his features. 

“Very interesting book there dearie, it might actually be the most accurate one out there,” he told her. Belle looked back at her book, and then at him, One simple question burned on the tip of her tongue, a question she always wondered but never thought she would be able to ask. 

“Can you really spin straw into gold?” Belle questioned. Rumpelstiltskin blinked at her, not expecting the question. For a moment Belle floundered, biting her tongue in thoughts that she shouldn’t have asked, and that he was probably offended by her even asking. 

“..yes…” he finally answered. Belle couldn’t help the smile that blossomed on her face, she finally received an answer to the question that first popped into her head when she read that story. 

“Again, you had a reason that you called me here?” he sounded flustered as he asked. Belle started for a moment, but then she remembered the entire reason that she was here in the whole place. 

“I want to make a deal,” she said, but Rumpelstiltskin already knew that, people hardly called him for less, “my kingdom, Atlantis, is in trouble. I have to save it.” 

“Ah yes, the poor kingdom of Atlantis, in a war they can’t fight, losing by the day, and barely staying afloat in its underwater palace. Disease, famine, death and war, what could I do to help?” Belle lowered her gaze back to her lap, clutching her stone in hopes that it would give her strength to ask for what she needs. At the same time, she knew a stone wouldn’t be able to really give her the strength that she needed. Belle thought of all the merpeople who were suffering, who wouldn’t get better, and that if she was ever going to be brave in her lifetime, now would be the chance to be brave. 

“You are the most powerful in all the land, who could do anything if he wished. I ask that you spare my people, and in return I would give you anything,” Belle said with practiced   
measure. She thought of that line long ago, when the plan first popped into her mind, and since then that was always what she thought she would tell Rumpelstiltskin if he made an appearance before her. 

“Anything you say?” he mused, clearly making an over-exaggeration of it. Belle almost frowned at him, wanting a decision made right at this moment. Yet she kept her face neutral, not risking the chance that he would say no simply because she said the wrong thing. 

“I will save your home, and all the people in it, for one simple price,” he finally answered. Belle could almost feel her face light up with joy. 

“Anything! Whatever I can give I will. I brought some of my jewels, and my most treasured items, maybe one of them-“

“No I don’t want your jewels dearie,” he interrupted, “my price is one simple element, you.” 

Belle had heard about the feeling of blood draining from her face, but she never thought that she would actually feel her face turn an ashen color. Rumpelstiltskin’s expression almost fall at the sight, but it must have been a trick of the light. Belle internally braced herself, steeling her already wrought nerves with what was about to come. 

“You’ll protect my people? My land? Everything will be okay in the end?” she asked for clarification. 

“That is the deal dearie,” he responded. Belle nodded, knowing that there was only one response that she would let herself give and be able to look at herself in the morning. 

“I’ll go with you,” she answered. Rumpelstiltskin smiled brightly, rubbing his hands together. 

“It’s for forever dearie, remember that?” Belle swallowed thickly at his words, but still nodded. Rumpelstiltskin laughed impishly, delighted in a deal completed. 

“You have until this time tomorrow, then I will be right here to collect you. And if you are not here, then it will probably be better if you honor what you agreed to.” 

Rumpelstiltskin was gone with those last few words. Belle stared off into the distance, noticing that the water was higher than before, and the rays of dawn were beginning to touch the horizon.


	3. Goodbye

Even the sun beaming directly over the water didn’t penetrate deeply enough for Belle’s kingdom. Sometimes, when summer came and the days on shore were so hot they couldn’t be walked on with bare feet, the light would be just strong enough to brighten up the sea and made the day even more pleasant in her opinion.  
Midafternoon arrived by the time she got to her home and half of the last day that she had left was already gone. Things there seemed strangely calm and quiet, no sounds of fighting and training by the new recruits, no song of hope running through the city. Belle wondered what was going on, but didn’t dwell too much on it. Her actions, once completed would guarantee her land and people’s safety.

“Belle! There you are, I have been looking for you all day,” a very male, very proud sounding voice came from behind her. Belle almost groaned aloud, covering her face with her hand for a moment before she turned around, a smile plastered on her face.

“Sorry Gaston, I just have been busy today,” Belle explained quickly, trying to find an excuse to leave him alone. He seemed to have no intention of letting her out of his site now that he had found her.

“I was thinking we could spend the day together, you know _fiancé to fiancé_ ,” his spoke with heavy intention, planning to do some obviously very un-lady like acts with her in a darkened room. Belle panicked internally, trying to think of anything that could get her out of going away with him.

“Oh Gaston, I don’t know…” she said in an effort to buy time. An idea suddenly struck her, making a smirk appear on her features. “Today is such a busy day,” she paused for dramatic effect, placing the back of her hand on her forehead. Gaston didn’t seem concerned for her wellbeing, but he did look interested. “I know! Today I want to spend by myself, and tomorrow, you can have me all to yourself. How does that sound?”

Gaston almost collided with the wall in his effort to swim away from her faster. He was probably already thinking of some way to ‘occupy’ himself while she spent the day away from him. Belle almost laughed at the look she could imagine when he realized that she wasn’t going to be there tomorrow. At least the only good thing about this deal was that she wouldn’t have to go through with this arranged marriage with Gaston.

Belle hummed a lullaby that her mother used to sing to her as she went on the hunt for her father. He was probably in his study or meeting with the council, trying to solve problems that she had already fixed by her deal with Rumpelstiltskin. Of course they didn’t know that but she wouldn’t be able to tell them. Knowing her father and the council that had almost raised her, they would try to tell her that her decision was a bad one, that she would have to stay home and they would win the war another way.

Belle’s deal was struck though, and no matter what her friends, her father, or even the council did, Belle would honor this deal with her last dying breathe. Swimming lightly, her flaxen tail making small bubbles with its movements, Belle sped off to the council room, hoping that somehow she could convince her father to spend the day with her.

“Papa?” she quietly spoke through the almost empty room. There was nothing in there besides a table that had her mother’s favorite things spread across, and her father sitting by himself at the head of the table. He didn’t look up when she entered, nor when she spoke.

“Papa? Are you alright?” her voice said with a light tremble. When her father got into that kind of mood, one where all he did was sit on this throne and order everyone away, he was known to be rash with words and cruel with his actions.

“Belle? Leave me alone today, I do not wish for company,” he ordered, not even lifting his hand as he dismissed her without thought. Belle bit her lip, thinking as she stayed put in her place.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said leave!” he yelled, already angry because his wishes had not been fulfilled.

“Papa, please come out of this room and spend the day with me,” she begged, hands moving together. King Maurice stared down at her, unpleased by her actions, no room in his mind to hear her out.

“I said leave!” he bellowed. In one swift movement he was out of his chair and swimming towards her, making Belle scramble in her effort to get away.

As she opened the door and yanked herself out of the room, she felt something whip past her ear. Her father had thrown something, almost hitting her as it floated through the water. As the door closed and King Maurice was left to his own mourning, Belle looked at the shattered object that he had thrown. It was one of her mother’s jewels, a necklace that she had taken from a sunken ship. When Belle was thinking of herself getting married, to Gaston or to anyone, she always imagined that necklace being around her, hanging over her collar bone.

Now though the once elegant golden chain was broken to bits, some of them floating around, no longer anchored by the heavy weight of the rest of the necklace. The largest of the red gems was cracked thickly in half, while the other two red gems were broken into two or more pieces. Belle felt her throat thicken at the sight of it, every image of her own wedding day shattering in her mind.

Belle swam to her room, quickly packing all the things she could ever imagine that she might need into one pack, almost shoving it there in an effort to make it all fit. Eventually though her bag was filled just as the sun was setting on the sea. Belle scrawled out a hasty note telling King Maurice that she had solved the problem of the war, telling Gaston that they were no longer engaged, and that everything was going to be okay and that she loved her father. She folded the note and put it on the head of her bed, where someone was eventually bound to find it.

One last glance over was all that she allowed herself to see of what was soon to be her old home. The garden where she tried to grow something beside the kelp and failed called for her to try one last time before she left forever but Belle ignored the call and kept swimming on. The balcony where her mother taught her how to braid her hair and be who she is no matter what happens screamed for her to stop one last time and rest her weary tail for the night but Belle ignored that scream as well. Lastly, the room where King Maurice was still locked up in bellowed her for her say her goodbyes to her father but Belle ignored those bellows as well. She knew right now that if she saw her father then she would never be able to leave home.

Belle hovered over the edge of her kingdoms line, knowing that the moment she glided over the invisible line written in the sand then there would be no going back. It was a deal she had come up with for herself, the moment she crossed the line there would be nothing to stop her from heading home.

Time was ticking by, darkness overtaking the deeps depth of the ocean, and a current was going through the sea, pushing gently against her back, as if warning her that now was the time to go before it was too late. Even if she left right now, Belle would get there moments before the sun rose in the morning.

In the moments of thinking and the current pushing against her back, Belle almost didn’t notice that the sea pushed her farther along, making her decision for her. Belle stared at the invisible line in the sand before she took one last glance to the place she called home for years, and then in a blink of an eye Belle was racing off, not daring herself to look back and rethink the fate she sealed herself.


	4. Sun

There were few things that could make Belle rush as if she was racing father time himself. Belle considered herself a calm person, who could think about a situation calmly and decide after a moment. Yet now she was racing through the water, trying to make it to her rock before the deadline hit and Rumplestiltskin would be gone. She read about the people he cheated, but none of them had ever really tried to break the deal they had. Belle didn’t want to know what would happen if she didn’t get there in time. 

The water was thick like molasses. Instead of traveling fast as she normally would everything seemed to be against her, from the currents pushing against her and the seaweed and kelp that randomly encountered her. Yet finally, just as the sun began to touch the horizon, her rock appeared before her, jutting out like a beacon of hope. 

Belle exhaled a sigh of relief as she hoisted herself over the rock, feeling calmness and yet anticipation rise up within her. Yet as she turned on the rock to look around, her bag gave a great tear, falling off into her shoulder as Belle looked on with something akin to horror etched on her features. 

The bag turned as it fell, the top falling open as it touched the waves of the ocean. Belle leaned forward to dive down and save herself, intent on not losing one thing. Just as the bag submerged into the water, the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. 

“Hang on there dearie, I believe that we had a deal,” a crackling voice spoke. Belle froze in place, her body half submerged in the water. She turned and saw Rumplestiltskin standing on the tip of the rock, looking as calm there as if he had been born there. He wore a thin grin, as if he thought Belle changed her mind and was running away. 

“My bag dropped,” she explained. Rumplestiltskin grinned wider, showing yellow teeth that stood out from the dark horizon. 

“Is that so?” he asked, with a flourish of his hand, Belle’s bag was back in her lap, completely dry and everything back inside. Belle smiled at him, almost happy that she did not have to go and dive back to the bottom and possibly search for hours for her possessions. 

“Thank you,” she told him. His face fell, as if he wasn’t expecting her to say words of thanks for his small action. 

“No need for thanks dearie, now we must get a move on!” he spoke, making motions with his arms as a signal for her to rise. Belle turned and pulled her tail onto the rock, making it dry faster. 

Belle herself had never been on land before. She wondered what it would be like, what her ‘feet’ would look like, and what grass would feel like. There was so much she was excited to see and experience, but at the same time there was a painful knot in her stomach, because doing all these things meant leaving home and never returning. 

Rumplestiltskin suddenly made an impatient noise, leaning down and raising one hand to run it down her body from her waist to her tail. He didn’t touch her, instead his hand hovered over her about an inch away. 

In a moment her tail was dry, with nothing more than a few random droplets here and there to remind her of the sea. There was a flash of light, and her tail was gone. The skin where now there was legs and feet was tight and dry, a feeling she was completely unused to. Belle wiggled her toes experimentally, feeling the new skin brush against each other and cause new feelings that she never felt before. 

Belle turned to Rumplestiltskin with a grin of excitement on her face, only to meet a face that was respectfully turned away, and if she didn’t know better there was even a blush on his cheeks. Belle didn’t know what to do. Instead of paying attention to him she turned back to her legs, bending each one at the knee experimentally, and feeling over her thighs and calf’s as she moved around. The rock she sat on so many times was rougher on her sensitive new skin than it was before on her scaly tail. 

“Enough of that for now dearie, it’s time to get going,” he spoke. In a shrug of his shoulders his cloak was off, and draped it over her, giving her some modesty. Though she had no idea why, there was nothing there beside some new legs. 

Belle shakily tried to get up, and to stand like he was standing with both feet firmly planted on the ground, but her legs were unsteady, completely unwilling to stand on her own and bending constantly at her knees. Rumplestiltskin sighed, grabbing her arms and hefting her up by the bicep, leaving her completely balanced by his arms. He let go of her arms, and she almost fell back into the water, if Rumplestiltskin had not been thoughtful and quickly reached forward and steadied her once more. 

“You’ve never been on land,” he said it as a statement and not a question, yet she still nodded in confirmation instead. He sighed and kept his arm firmly on her arm. His other hand went around her waist, as she took his jacket and placed it over her legs and hips. 

“This is going to be interesting then. Let’s get you on more stable grounds then,” he still was talking more to himself than he was to her, but she still nodded along as if he was talking to her.

In a moment of pure confusion for Belle, there was a puff of smoke and then they were standing on the shore, the morning light letting both Belle and Rumplestiltskin see around them. Belle carefully dug her toes into the sand, trying to get her legs to support her weight so that she wouldn’t have to rely on Rumplestiltskin just to walk. He simply sighed, slowly letting go of her as she took more weight on her own legs. 

When she felt ready Belle let herself take one long step forward, almost having her ankles bend underneath her weight. Spinning her arms in great circles, she managed to keep her balance. Belle had managed to take her first step on land by herself. She turned and grinned excitedly at Rumplestiltskin, who in turn gave her a grin of her own. She could almost tell how impatient he was getting with her, yet she didn’t care. 

Back in her home, anyone of stature was banned from going on land. It was thought of being a lesser activity, since humans were nothing compared to any merperson. Belle always envied the kingdoms children who would often take trips to the humans world. At first they would tell her all about it, yet they never told her what she really wanted to know.

What did the sand feel like? Was dancing as fun as it sounded? What were the humans like?  
Instead her friends told her about how they hated it there, how everyone was mean and cruel, but it must not have been that bad, since they would always go back when they had the chance. 

Now Belle knew just what it was like herself. Her small rock that she would visit let her know what the kiss of the sun felt like, and what the beauty of the sky was, and her rock is her sanctuary. Yet nothing else could have compared on that tiny rock to how she felt right now, feeling everything for herself. 

“Now come along dearie, we must be going,” Rumplestiltskin said, coming up behind her and placed his hand on her waist, reminding her of what she was truly here for. Belle straightened immediately, the joyful mood inside of her gone in an instant. 

“Of course,” she replied.

And they were off.


End file.
